You say that you are Catholic. No where in the Bible do they encourage the veneration of saints. That is a form of idolatry and therefore is NOT Christian.
Luke 20:36-38
God is God of the living; the saints are more alive than we are because they are united to Him in Heaven.
(And as for the "skip the saints, talk straight to God" argument, it can be applied to those on earth, so why is it socially acceptable to ask an earthly friend to pray for you but not a heavenly one?)
James 5:16
The prayers of the righteous are powerful; my brothers and sisters who have gone before me are definitely more righteous than I am, since they are united to God, Who is the Source of all righteousness.
1 Corinthians 12:21
One part of the body can't reject another; same with the Body of Christ. Salvation is a family affair. If we don't pray for, and help, and encourage each other, then no one is gonna succeed.
1 Timothy 2:1-4
St. Paul says to pray for each other, and talks about why it's a good idea.
Hebrews 12:1
We are constantly surrounded by the saints, they are praying for us and encouraging us, even if we can't see or hear them.
Also;
Like, a lot of the Book of Revelation.
I could go on, but you get the gist...
Look, I Googled this list, and then checked it with my Bible. If you're a Christian, then go do your research. If you're not, then at least look up the answer to your question before you challenge someone on something.
Idk, I just feel like the amount of times that people on this site have asked me a "tough question" and then I was like "doot doo doo, just gonna look up some articles to refresh mah memory".....like, guys. You can look up articles too, it's really interesting.
I hope these QnA thingies are learning opportunities for not just me!
Pax Christi y'all
*falls backwards dramatically*
~LD~